Bloomington, IN Bus Crashes Into Abutment, Aug 1949

FIFTEEN KILLED IN BUS ACCIDENT.

BUS RIPS INTO ABUTMENT NEAR BLOOMINGTON.

FOURTEEN SURVIVORS OWE LIVES TO DRIVER OF GREYHOUND BUS.

Bloomington, Ind., Aug 10 -- (UP) -- A Greyhound bus crashed into a bridge abutment and burst into a sheet of fire early today, killing at least 15 persons.
Many of the 14 survivors owed their lives to WAYNE CRANMER, 25, Indianapolis, driver of the bus, who entered the burning coach repeatedly to drag out injured and terror-stricken passengers.
Nearly two hours after daybreak, 13 bodies had been removed and two more were visible in the charred and smoking debris. It looked like a flame thrower had destroyed the big bus.
The bus, headed for Evansville from Indianapolis, ripped into a concrete abutment on a bridge over a small creek on a winding, hilly state road linking Indianapolis with this Indiana University City, 50 miles southwest of the state capital.

Early Morning Crash.
The accident happened five miles north of here at 1:40 a.m. EST.
Survivors were thrown through the windshield or climbed out broken windows. Passengers trapped inside screamed in pain and fear as the flames leaped high into the air and enveloped the coach seconds after it crashed into the abutment with a ripping crash.
Thirteen survivors were brought to Bloomington Hospital and one was taken to a hospital at Martinsville, Ind., 25 miles north of here.
The bodies all appeared burned beyond recognition. Rescuers found two small children amond the dead. From their position in the wreckage, it appeared they were riding in a seat with a woman believed to be their mother. She also was killed.
The night was clear, with a full moon, when the accident occurred.
CRANMER, the bus driver, said that he lost control of the bus as it appreached the abutment.
"It seemed like the steering gear went out of order," he said. "Either that or we had a tire blow out. A second later we went off the road and hit the bridge."
CRAMNER was taken to a hospital after the crash and was unavailable for further statements.

Eye Witness Statements.
WILFRED LUTTRELL, an Evansville, Ind., truck driver, was riding in the front seat of the bus when it rammed the abutment.
"I flew through the air and right out the windshield," he said.
He saw what was going to happen.
"We were heading right toward the bridge abutment," he said, "but I thought the driver would cut back into the traffic lane."
"LUKE SHUTE of Bloomington was sitting by me and he went out the windshield with me. I landed on the concrete highway on top of some glass from the windshield. I was cut and bruised from skimming along, the road on top of the glass."
A spokesman for the National Safety Council described the accident at "certainly one of the worst in a decade" for busses.
CRAMER said he had "about 29 passengers" aboard the bus when he left his laft stop, Martinsville, on the next stage here.
The bus burned for hours after the crash and officers could not enter it until daybreak to remove the bodies.
Meanwhile, Bloomington Mayor THOMAS LEMON ordered a temporary morgue established in the armory to receive the bodies.

Driver Loses Control.
CRAMER said that as he lost control, the bus "just seemed to slide into that big hunk of concrete."
It hit on the right front side, then turned over on its left side.
The gasoline tanks exploded a second afterward, turning the bus into a pyre for the trapped occupants.
WELLS W. RICHARDSON, 19, Evansville, was enroute home after attending a boys tennis tournament at Elkhart, Ind.
"I was dozing when all of a sudden I heard a big crash," he said. "The next thing I knew I was on my back. A negro man broke out a back window and I dived through it. By that time the whole bus was on fire. I saw lots of bodies just before I went out the window but there wasn't time to help them. I had to dive through flames myself to get out."
RICHARDSON suffered minor injuries.
LUKE SHUTE, 50, enroute home to Bloomington said "I was awake and sitting in a front seat but don't know what caused the crash."
"The bus just hit the abutment and turned over on its side," he said. "Flames shot up very quickly and I only saw four or five people get out."

Identified dead:
CHARLES ELLERBROOK, 78 years old, Evansville.
MRS. JOAN AIKMAN, 25, Kokomo.
MISS GRACE CARDWELL, 29, Evansville.
MRS. RUTH ELLERBROOK, 67, wife of Charles.
JAMES AIKMAN, 6, son of MRS. AIKMAN.
VICKY LYNN AIKMAN, 4, daughter of MRS. AIKMAN.
MRS. GEORGIA TANDY, 50, Indianapolis.
MRS. ARMINTA BROWN, 60, Indianapolis.
OMER G. BROWN, 55, husband of MRS. BROWN.
MRS. BARBARA JEAN ROBERTS, 18, Bedford, Ind.
(The rest of the 15 persons who died in the crash and fire were still not positively identified tonight.)
List of the Injured:
DALE AIKMAN, 30, a soldier from Camp Campbell, Ky., extensively burned.
An Unidentified Soldier at hospital in Martinsville, Ind., who is seriously burned.
WAYNE CRANMER, 25, bus driver, 1112 Hoye Ave., Indianapolis, minor injury of the hand.
LEONARD LONG, 41, French Lick, minor injuries.
JAMES YOCUM, 18, of 1247 Udell St., Indianapolis, minor injuries.
HERBERT LITTERELL, 20, Peterville, Ohio, a student at Plainesville Business College, city unknown, minor injuries.
EDGAR DAVIS, Negro, 43, 1939 Rulevord St., Indianapolis, a cab driver, minor injuries.
JOHN HIRANIMAS, 15, of 1019 East Blackford St., Evansville, Ind., minor injuries.
LUKE SHUTE, 50, Bloomington.
WILFRED LUTTRELL, Evansville.
BILL ELDERBROOK, Evansville.
MRS. LUCILLE MELTON, 39, Mount Vernon, Ind.
An infant, JUDITH ANN MELTON.
WELLS RICHARDSON, Evansville.

Middlesboro Daily News Kentucky 1949-08-10

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BUS DRIVER UNDER FIRE.

Bloomington, Ind., -- (UP) -- A passenger was to testify late today his statement that the driver of a Greyhound bus dozed off just before it crashed into a bridge and killed 16 persons.
WILBERT LUTTRELL, an Evansville, Ind., truck driver was called to testify at the inquest into the deaths. He told reporters that "for 15 or 20 minutes before the wreck I noticed the driver was getting groggy."
The driver, WAYNE CRANMER, Indianapolis, denied that he was sleepy. He told the coroner's jury he thought a blow out of the right front tire threw the bus into the abutment.
Coroner R. E. LYONS called LUTTRELL a "key-witness" and delayed the inquest so that he could testify.
The 16th victim of the crash, DALE E. AIKMAN, 30, a soldier from Camp Campbell, Ky., died yesterday. His wife and two small children died in the flames that enveloped the bus after the crash.
An investigation of the accident was hampered by the almost complete destruction of the bus. All four tires were burned away.

Mansfield News Journal Ohio 1949-08-12
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!